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Silber and Gold
This Fan Fiction will tell the events of Storm's Brewing from Alistair's perspective, featuring bits of the story that were not included earlier due to the story being from Damon's perspective only. It will be written and published by Novafan365, chapter by chapter. Feel free to leave feedback in the comment section below. If you notice a spelling mistake or grammatical error, feel free to correct it. Thanks for reading! Chapter 1: One Man's Trash... I was standing in front of an alley, waiting for my associates. People were walking by, talking on their phones and such. Car after car whizzed by on the busy street. And the whole time, I just stood there, looking at the ground. I waited forever until finally they showed up. Ray and Rubicon, my closest and only friends. Actually, I wouldn't say they were of equal merit. Rubicon was always a better friend to me than Ray. He always had my back, whereas Ray only watched his own. It was too bad that Ray was more of a leader than Rubicon or me, and as such, had an air of dominance around him, which annoyed me greatly. But I digress. "You got your Vivosaurs, Alistair?" Ray asked. I nodded and showed him my three Dino Medals. A Pelto, an Ankylo, and a Pachrino. These three Dino Medals had been gifts from my family, and I guarded them with my life. Fossil Fighting brought me quite a joy, and when I got really into it, I tended to yell my orders to my Vivosaurs. They didn't mind, though. They knew I was just excited. "You got yours?" I asked. Ray and Rubicon showed me their medals, too. I nodded in response. I don't know how they got their medals, but I do know that they loved Fossil Fighting as much as I did. That was one thing we had in common. I don't understand how anyone could not like Fossil Fighting. The thrill and excitement one gets from pitting revived dinosaurs against another person's in combat is undescribable. I got such a rush out of it. It was one of few things that did so to me. Another of those few things was what were about to do. "Well then, what're we waiting for?" "Patience, Rubicon. We must wait for the manager to come out for his lunch break." "Ray-" "I said, WE WAIT." I could have intervened, but I decided not to. That would have only further annoyed Ray, and when he's annoyed, it makes our jobs more unpleasant. "Ray, we're not exactly inconspicuous. People are going to start wondering why three teenagers are just hanging around an alley, which just happens to include the back entrance to a Dino Medal Warehouse!" "I realize that, but it won't be too much longer." On cue, the manager of the warehouse walked out, whistling. Immediately, Ray "dropped" a Dino Medal onto the ground. From it came out a light blue, short-legged, long-necked and long bodied Vivosaur. I believe it was called Tanstro. "Creepy Lick" said Ray under his breath. But Tanstro didn't react. In fact, it was sleeping. "Moron" I said under my breath Ray seemed to hear me. "I'm sorry, what was that Alistair!?" "You've had that Tanstro for who knows how long and you keep forgetting that while it's very powerful, it has narcolepsy, so it falls asleep when you send it out!" By now, the manager had seen us and the Tanstro. At the sight of the Vivosaur, he prepared to run, but Rubicion quickly caught him. He tossed his own Dino Medal into the air, and a flying Vivosaur with a crest on its head appeared. It was called Jara, but Rubicon had named it Jan. "Knockout Cry!" he ordered, with a flourish of his right index finger. Jan sent out a long beam of energy from its mouth, hitting the manager square in the chest. He slumped to the ground, asleep. Ray and Rubicon called back the Vivosaurs as I walked over the comatose manager and took his keys. I unlocked the door and the three of us entered the building. Chapter 2: ...Is Another Man's Treasure! How we slipped into the warehouse without being spotted was astounding. There weren't many workers, though, so that could have been it. We snuck past the various shelves of crates full of Dino Medals and Fossils. Despite the name Dino Medal Warehouse, the Dino Medals weren't entirely what the industry revolved around. The warehouse contained fossils were set to be exported to Vivosaur Island and the Caliosteo Islands for their tournaments' Fighters. The Fossil were all neatly sorted and placed into crates, and the corresponding Dino Medal was placed in as well to identify the fossils. That way the people would know where to put them. The three of us weaved our way around workers, nearly getting spotted several times. One time I had to actually glare at a forklift operator who had seen us. I hated having to glare at someone who I didn't even know. I was born with something of a curse. My eyes, instead of being normal colors like brown or green, are silver. To make things worse, my eyes have a cold glare to them that is enough to pretty much stun anyone that looks into them. It only works the first time around. Afterwards the eyes don't have as much an effect, if at all. Finally we reached the room we were looking for. A big steel door marked, "Authorizied Employees Only". Ray told us that behind the door were the rarest fossils. I looked around, making sure no one could see us. No one was even there to spot us. There wasn't even a guard at the door. "Need a lock pick, Ray?" queried Rubicon. "No. I've got something something better." "Oh?" "Watch and learn, Rubicon." Ray quickly whipped out a strange key-like object and picked the lock. He opened the door and we went in. I found the light switch and turned it on. There were two shelves on each side of the small room, with small crates of various fossils stacked side by side. Rubicon shut the door and I went over to one of the crates and removed the lid. There were dozens of fossils inside, and a strange trilobite-like Earth Vivosaur. I had never even heard of this one before. "Ahh, Terata." said Ray. "Terata? I've never heard of it." "There are plenty of Vivosaurs you've never heard of Alistair. Now grab the medal, quickly!" "How do you know this is rare, anyway?" I questioned. "Because, Terata is from a digsite called Seabed Cavern. And the company that owns the site doesn't offer rides down there, thus allowing them to deem the fossils there as 'rare'." "How do you know that?" "I have my sources. The BBB is a big organization, we're just a wing of it. Now hurry up already!" I bent down and picked up the Terata medal. I saw Rubicon take an Earth-type sauropod out of another crate. I hadn't heard of this one before, either. "Shouldn't there be a guard posted outside?" I asked. "I took care of it." said Rubicon as he flashed Jan's medal. How he managed to do it so quickly confused me, but I just nodded and continued my work. Soon we had gathered about 9 medals, each of them for rare Vivosaurs. We put the lids back on and carefully opened the door. As soon as we had, though, several police officers surrounded us. I figured someone must have seen us attack the manager, or the guard. I didn't have time to think though, as the officers started closing in on us. Several of them had red dog-like Vivosaurs with black manes, Andrarchs, on leashes, waiting to let them attack us. I coolly removed Ankylo's medal from inside my trenchcoat's pocket, and casually tossed it to the floor. My Ankylosaur friend quickly appeared from the medal, roaring and ready to fight. "Toxic Spear" I said. Ankylo complied, and sent dozens of bursts of water flying towards the officers. The blasts pelted the Andrarch's back into their Medals, and some of the officers fell to the ground, unconscious. Alarms blared and several officers whom I had missed came at us again. We all began running through the warehouse with police and warehouse guards chasing us. It happened so fast, I barely had time to call back Ankylo. Then Rubicon took another Vivosaur out of his pocket. His O-Raptor. He tossed it into the air, and shouted a command I couldn't hear over the sirens. I looked over my shoulder and saw the officers and guards vanish in a wild flurry of dust and feathers. Then, instead of retreating, O-Raptor began running alongside us. The bird-like raptor did very well keeping up with us. We managed to lose the guards thanks to O-Raptor, and we soon found the same entrance we had used, bolted outside, ran past the still-sleeping manager, and ran another block towards our usual meeting place, at the docks, with me cursing Ray's horrible leadership skills the whole way. Chapter 3: Opportunity Awaits After reaching the docks, we all slumped onto a bench, tired from all the running we had done. Rubicon called back his O-Raptor and we observed the Dino Medals we had taken. “Excellent,” said Ray, “Job well done, boys.” I didn’t reply. I was too busy pondering what I had just done. Not only had I broken into a warehouse and stolen valuable goods, but I had attacked the police with a Vivosaur. I didn’t know what to think of myself. I had been pulling capers for months with these two, and no matter how many times we did something like this, I always felt a twang of guilt that never seemed to go away. I looked down at my Ankylo medal, still warm in my hand, and though about how it felt when attacking the police. Did it know it was doing wrong? Did it have any doubts or feel skeptical about what it was doing? I had never attacked the police before, and I didn’t like it when I did. “Alright guys, this was good, but we need something bigger! Something that will truly show the world that the Breakaway Brigade is a force to be reckoned with! And I know just the thing to do it!” announced Ray. He pulled out a flyer for a tournament called the Caliosteo Cup. I got excited as soon as I had seen it. I had heard about the tournament and had wanted to enter it for months but I knew that would mean ditching Rubicon and Ray and I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let myself ditch my accomplices, because Ray would just think I was weaseling my way out of trouble. But now that Ray was targeting the Caliosteo Islands, this would be my big break! “The Cup?" Rubicon scratched his head. "Why? What could we possibly get there we can't already get?" “Notoriety! This could be our way to make our names big! To make the Breakaway Brigade something meaningful, not just an unnoticed wing of a bigger clan!” exclaimed Ray. Yeah, right, I thought. It was about Ray, and revenge. Ray had a personal vendetta against the owner of the Caliosteo Islands, Joe Wildwest. A few years back, Ray had attempted to steal Joe’s prized Ptera, the Vivosaur that was Joe’s trademark. Of course, Ray got caught at the last second and got his butt beaten in a Fossil Battle by Joe himself on live TV. The situation had Ray jailed and humiliated. Since then, he had wanted to have another go at Joe, and this time defeat him. “Is it even worth it?” I asked, “I mean, you’re still banned from the islands. If you go back, you’ll most likely get caught and jailed for even longer than last time.” “Which is why I WON’T be competing. You and Rubicon will.” Ray remarked smugly. “And why should we go to all this trouble to promote YOUR image?” I replied. “Because, I’ll give you these!” said Ray and he brought out two, light-brown fossil rocks that looked like hexagonal rectangles.I had heard of them. They were Miraculous Fossil Rocks, which were extremely rare fossil rocks containg gold fossils. If integrated into a Vivosaur, these fossils gave power increases; some Vivosaurs could supposedly evolve into new forms in the process. I didn’t know if this was true or not, but I was about to find out. Rubicon was speechless. “These are… How did you…” Ray simply smiled and said, “I had to pull a few strings with the higher ups but I managed to find them. You can thank me later.” And with that, Ray ended the meeting and we parted ways. I had to take a different route so I wouldn’t risk getting noticed by the police, but I made it home, with my new Miraculous rock! Chapter 4: Enough Prologue, Let's Cut to the Chase! Two months later, I found myself waiting with Rubicon for the helicopter to come and get us. We were on a skyscraper overlooking the city. I could literally see my house from up there. I thought about the discussion I had had with my mother last night. She knew I had been tangled in a series of crimes lately and had done her best to make me stop, but her efforts were fruitless. It hurt me so much to see her so upset, so I promised her I would return from the Cup “a better man”. She told me that this was my last chance before she would truly give up. I almost teared up myself hearing that. I didn’t like stealing precious valuables but I was bound to the BBB’s cause! The BareBones Brigade, or BBB, was the group that I was a part of. Including what I said earlier, the other reason I didn’t want to immediately enter the Caliosteo Cup was because we had been targeting the Caliosteo Islands for months. I didn’t know why we were so intent on stopping the Cup from happening, but all our missions varied from hijacking emails to stealing fossils and Dino Medals to delaying boats and helicopter rides to the islands. But still the Cup developed and prepared to start. The BBB split trios of members into branches. Ray had named ours the Breakaway Brigade.The special part of our wing was our strong autonomy from the head of the organization, Don Boneyard. We had Ray to thank for that, since he never met up with any other branch heads and only took orders from Boneyard himself. It was this autonomy that allowed Ray to plan personal his strike at Joe Wildwest. “So, how long do you think it’ll be until Ray’s plan comes crashing down on him?” asked Rubicon. "I'd offer two-to-one it'll be within the week." “How are you so sure that the plan will fail to begin with?” “Two reasons: One, Ray's foresight couldn't. Two, us. There's no way either of us could take on Joe one-on-one and win. The guy’s a world champ." “I know, Rubicon. Trust me, I have more doubts about this plan than you think, but we have to follow through with it.” “And why is that, Ali?” “First of all, I have repeatedly told you not to call me Ali. Second of all, Ray has been giving us bull for two months. Wouldn’t you like to see him squirm, even just a little?" Rubicon thought about this for a moment. "Sorry, non-sequitur. How could we, by following the plan, make Ray squirm? “We're gonna fail, for the very reasons you brought up. And when we do, he's gonna do hard time.” Rubicon wolf-whistled. “You’ve got quite a dark mind, Ali. I'm almost envious." Annoyed, I glared at him. For a split second, Rubicon’s eyes widened, then he quickly averted his gaze. Just then, the helicopter arrived to grab its next pair of Fighters. A man walked out holding a list. He called out, “Silber, Alistair and Adriatico, Rubicon!” We picked up our bags and loaded them into the helicopter. After a minute or two, the helicopter took off. The helicopter gained speed and I quickly saw myself flying over the ocean and away from the small city. I conversed with Rubicon about any sort of plan he’d have to win, and if I had any as well. After about 20-30 minutes of flying, the pilot pointed out a small green island that he called Ribular. To the left of it, I saw another island, this one orange and more desert-like. To the right, I saw a blue, icy-weathered one. I asked about them, and the pilot called the island on the left Cranial and the one on the right Ilium. After landing, the pilot wished us luck and flew off afer handing us our bags. I took a deep breath of the island air, and began getting pumped. But my thinking was quickly disturbed when I saw a strange gray boulder rolling towards the Fossil Center. When I saw a Fighter run after it and toss a purple, sea-monster-like Vivosaur called Elasmo to guard his things, I figured that the boulder was a disobedient Vivosaur. I simply raised an eyebrow and quietly chuckled to myself. “This should be interesting,” said Rubicon, with an ear-to-ear grin.“Let the games begin!” Chapter 5: New Place, New People, Same Game I picked up my bags and walked over to the Fossil Center to register. When I entered the building, I saw that same boulder embedded in a hole in the floor in what I thought was the cleaning room. It took me several seconds to realize that the boulder was a Carno. I saw the Carno’s fighter turn the Vivosaur back into a medal and begin speaking with his friend, whom I assume had been run over. As I continued towards the front desk, I noticed a staff member dressed differently from everyone else head into the cleaning room. Ray had briefed me on who the notable people were, so I knew the staff member was Stella, the Staff Leader on Ribular Island. If she found out who I was working with, chances are she’d have me deported. I simply shrugged this possibility off and kept walking. I approached the woman at the front desk, who was looking at a computer screen. I immediately braced myself for her reaction to seeing my eyes. As soon as I got to the desk, she looked up at me, and as just as she was about to greet me, her eyes widened a little bit and she just started staring into deep space. I sighed and snapped her out of it. “Sorry about that.” she said, “Name, please?” “Alistair Silber.” “Alright, Alistair, you’re all set. There are only three more people who need to register. You’ll be given a room shortly.” I thanked her and sat down on a nearby bench. While waiting, a boy in an overcoat similar to mine, only red instead of black, was walking by when he made eye contact with me. He jumped, alarmed, and brought his hand over his face. I simply rolled my eyes at the overreaction. But, unlike most people, he didn’t walk away. Instead, he confronted me, and rather defensively at that. “What’s the big idea!?” he cried. “Relax, it literally happens whenever someone sees me.” “Oh, can it! Do you know who I am? DO YOU!?” His voice was getting louder. “Be quiet, you’re drawing a crowd” I hissed. “I’m Rupert! I’m the guy who’s going to win this thing!” You keep telling yourself that, I thought. But instead of saying that I said, “That’s great.” “Darn right it is!” and with that Rupert walked away. I rolled my eyes again, and concluded that no one as arrogant and stubborn as Rupert could win this thing. Not wanting to think about Rupert, I began pondering if I had any Vivosaurs that could be evolved with a gold fossil. I began thinking of Vivosaurs whom I had heard could evolve. T-Rex, Anato, Aeros, Tricera… Then a staff member came up to me and asked if I was Alistair. When I looked up to confirm it, I could see him try to maintain his composure but I saw him shudder slightly. He handed me a room key and a bag containing a pickaxe and a case for my fossils. He told me I’d need those to dig for fossils when the Dig Sites opened up. I thanked him and was about to head up to my room when I saw a giant TV floating in the middle of the square. I blinked to make sure I wasn’t seeing things and sure enough, the TV was still there. I headed outside and stood with a rapidly-growing mass of people while Joe Wildwest appeared on the screen and announced the beginning of the cup. People all around me began cheering. I simply said to myself, “Yep. Let the games begin.” and began struggling my way out of the crowd to get to my room. Chapter 6: Too Much Green! I walked up the stairs in the Fossil Center to my room was on and, to my surprise, found Rubicon standing in front of it. I deduced that we had been paired as roomates, and began wondering if it was a coincidence or if it was Ray’s doing.My wondering was cut short, though, when an old face appeared to greet Rubicon. I’d recognize that neon green hair anywhere. It was Rubicon’s old friend, Celestial. We had met many times before, so looking her in the eye didn’t do anything to her. “Hey, Alistair! It’s been so long!” she said. “It has,” I replied. To me, Celestial was a bit of a nutcase. Her plain, go-with-the-flow personality was peculiar to me, but not too much. She had quite the obsession with the color green. And not a very subtle one either. One time, Rubicon and I had gone to her house, and I went to the fridge to get some water. I found a bag with a piece of cheese with every centimeter covered in mold. Needless to say, I was revolted, but didn’t say anything. “Have you picked up a Paleopager?” asked Rubicon, “Stella’s handing them out now.” “I haven’t, actually. I’ll do it now.” So I left my bags and Dino Medals in the room and went downstairs to find Stella when I saw some old colleagues. Three other members of the BareBones Brigade were loitering outside the Lounge. They were the oddest ragtag group I’d ever seen. One was a fat punk-rocker with a green mohawk, Lester. The second was some weird make-up wearing guy named Cole, and then there was some hippy chick who always had gum in her mouth, Lola. I had seen them before, and I thought they were all annoying as can be. But, despite my stealthy movement, they spotted me. “Well, if it isn’t Ol’ Silver-Eyes!” called Lester. I casually walked over to them and addressed Lester, “I told you, my name is Alistair. Not Ol’ Silver Eyes, not Ali. Got that?” Then Lola spoke up, “Whoooaaa dude, just chill. Lester didn’t mean any harm.” Then Cole chimed in, “Yeah man, take it easy. What brings you here anyway?” I figured that I might as well fill them in, seeing as how we were allies, “Well, I’m here to compete in the Cup, because Ray thinks it’ll boost our wing’s image. I don’t see why though, if we’re bent on destroying this Cup. I think it might be a revenge plan.” “Sounds like Ray. I imagine he’s still banned from the islands?” asked Cole. I confirmed it and they understood. Ray’s goal, despite his claims that it was a secret, was pretty much known by everyone, even Don Boneyard. He hadn’t put in any comment, though, since everyone dismissed it as a stupid idea. It does sound stupid when someone thinks about it. A member of some crime organization not only winning a tournament filled with strong opponents, but actually defeating Joe Wildwest in a Fossil Battle? Ray might as well try to run a bird off a cliff. It was near impossible to do. “Well, I gotta get a Paleopager from the front desk. See ya!” I said. They bid goodbye and I left to get the Paleopager. I found Stella supervising the repairs to the Cleaning Room. I went up to her and she, after recovering from her sudden wave of shock, gave me a Paleopager. I looked at the damage and whistled. “Wow, that Carno made quite the mess. Who’d it belong to, anyway?” I asked, suddenly curious. “Some fighter named Damon. If that Carno battles as well as it destroys rooms, he might just win this thing.” said Stella. “Well, he’ll have quite the competition.” Stella nodded and I went back to the room. When I got there, I heard a series of noises coming from a room up ahead. From what I could hear, it sounded like a heated video game competition. I simply shrugged and went inside, and rested up for the big day. Chapter 7: Chaos, Digging, and Battling Brothers When I woke up, it was already daylight. I stretched and got some cereal from the cabinet. As I ate, I could hear Rubicon and Celestial talking in the other part of the room. They were probably talking about their homes here. Rubicon and Celestial are both natives to Ribular Island, and as such, they own houses and are known by the staff. How one could live on such a small island was beyond me, but I didn’t ponder it much. I couldn’t hear what they were saying clearly, though, because I heard some kid yelling down the hall. Rubicon and Celestial walked into the living room just as I finished eating. They told me that Rubicon intended to go to his house to check on it and Celestial would visit Treasure Lake. I decided that I would go to the Dig Site as well. As soon as we all agreed on what we would each do, Celestial opened the door, stepped outside, and chaos ensued. I heard a loud roar and the sound of a stampede getting closer. My eyes widened in surprise but I maintained my composure. The thing about me was that I never really panicked. I couldn’t remember one time that I had. Besides, I was still in the room, out of harm’s way. I couldn’t say the same for Celestial. She seemed to be right in the path of the oncoming stampede. Then Rubicon charged out the door and tossed Jan’s medal into the air. I heard him order Jan to use Knockout Cry, and once Jan had done so, the roaring and charging ceased. I heard a loud *thud* and figured that it must have been some wild Vivosaur. I immediately thought of Damon’s Carno. I noticed Rubicon call back Jan and exchange some words with Celestial. He muttered something under his breath, then quickly called out his O-Raptor. Covered in a cloud of smoke-gray feathers, he rushed out the window. I figured he was going to his room, but I wondered why he had departed in such an odd way, what with feathers covering the hallway. I put on my coat and grabbed my Dino Medals from my bedside table and was about to leave when I noticed someone talking to Celestial. He was wearing the same orange jacket that belonged to the Fighter I’d seen chasing the Carno earlier, and he was holding the Dino Medal, so I figured that he was Damon. Suddenly, I heard my Paleopager beep. I took it out of my trenchcoat pocket and read the message on the screen: ~ Treasure Lake is now open to all Cup Participants. ~ I heard a huge crowd begin barreling down the hallway and decided to wait for the rush. The thing was that there were still O-Raptor feathers all over the place and they were getting kicked up. Then I heard a huge gust of wind and all the feathers were sent flying out the window. Anyone outside isn’t gonna be too happy, I thought. When the rush all left, I left for the Treasure Lake. When I stepped outside, I noticed a large mass of people in one corner of the square, so I had no trouble locating the Dig Site. I approached a young woman at the entrance, and she handed me a Sonar. I looked up to thank her, and realized I hadn’t seen her eyes yet. She suddenly got a dazed look on her face, but before I could do anything a surge of people shoved me into the crowd. It didn’t help that a sudden blur zipped by and into Treasure Lake. I didn’t do anything to fight the crowd. I just went with the flow of people until we had reached Treasure Lake. I heard a staff member say something about disqualification and everyone dispersed. I moved off to the side and began searching for fossils. Several green dots appeared on the screen when I used the Sonar, and approached one of them. I quickly struck my pickaxe into the ground and saw a fossil rock. I placed it into my case and was about to approach another one when I saw someone standing on a giant skull-shaped rock on the water’s edge. I watched as he lost his balance, fell off the rock, and then proceeded to argue with who I thought was Damon and a girl. Wow, I’ve only been here a day and I already know who causes the biggest problems, I thought. I got to another blip, hit my pickaxe into the dirt and excavated… a regular rock. Annoyed, I heaved the rock to the side and went to a third blip. I was about to dig when I noticed a shadowy figure boost a second shadowy figure over a fence on the far side of the lake. I didn’t think it was anything of interest, so I just dug and went over to several other blips. After a good deal of digging, I had filled up all 8 slots in my case. Not knowing what to do next, I just looked at my Sonar and used it when I noticed a golden dot appear instead of a green blip. I quickly went over to it, and excavated a fossil rock. Before I could replace another rock with it, a Fossil Fighter, a little boy, ran up to me and snatched the rock from my hands! “Hey!” I yelled “That’s mine! Now give it here!” The Fighter said, “If you want my Fossil Rock, you’ll have to battle me for it!” “Are you blind? I clearly dug up that rock first! Now give it to me!” “Not unless you battle me. If you don’t, I keep it.” By this time I was extremely irritated. But instead of arguing that he would be committing thievery, all I said was, “Fine. I’m going to enjoy this.” The Fighter smugly put down the rock and sent out a huge blue theropod Vivosaur with a mane of feathers; an Aeros. I dug out my three Vivosaurs and tossed them out. My Ankylo landed to my right, my Pelto to my right, and my Pachrino in front. The boy began to panic, “Hey! Three on one isn’t fair! Time out!” All I said was, “Pachrino Combo.” Pachrino, with its camoflauge coloring and military-style stars on its legs and sides, quickly rushed forward and gored the Aeros with its horns, then stepped back and thrust its horns up into Aeros’ jaw. Aeros staggered backward, roaring, and turned back into a medal. The boy refused to turn over the rock, though. “It wasn’t fair! Three on one is never fair!” “You challenged me. I wouldn’t have been so merciless if you had been nicer.” Then I snatched the rock from him. Then I looked him in the eye, since I had been half-averting my gaze. I was quite good at that. The boy turned around and fled, crying “Big brother!” the whole time. All I did was switch a rock in my case with the new one and walk back to the plaza. Some could argue that I was being a bully, but in hindsight, I never really hurt the kid. All I did was easily defeat him in a Fossil Battle that he had started and took what was mine. Case full, I headed to the Cleaning Room to see if the repairs were finished. I saw a sign that said, “Closed for Repairs” and started up the stairs. However, I was stopped short by a large Fossil Fighter wearing backpacker clothing.The little boy I had battled earlier was at his side. I averted my gaze. “You the guy who hurt my little brother?” he asked angrily. “Easy, man. All I did was beat him in a Fossil Battle that he challenged me too. Besides, I had gotten that rock first.” The Fighter wasn’t hearing it, “Save it! He says you did some eye-thing and scared him.” “Oh, you mean this?” And I glared at the Fighter. He staggered backwards and the boy began yelling insults at me. “Look, I don’t want to start anything. I can’t help what my eyes do to people.” The Fighter, again, wasn’t ready to buy it. “I’ll whup your butt so good that you’ll need to be airlifted out!” “Yeah!” chimed the boy. “Alright.” I said. “If you’re that confident, let’s do this.” And so we stood on opposite sides of the square. There was no one around to see us battle. Even the Fossil Center looked vacant of staff. I figured they were all at the Dig Site. “Go!” said the Fighter, and he tossed out two Vivosaurs: An Aeros and a similar Vivosaur, only this one was brown and had horns on its head and back. A Raja. I sent out my Vivosaurs in the same formation. Only, I didn’t attack. I was letting them save their energy for something bigger. “Ha! You’re already scared!” said the Fighter. "I bet you cheated in that battle! Go, Wind Blast!” And Aeros was surrounded by a green light. It roared and suddenly, a fierce gust of wind knocked all my Pachrino aside. It got up, barely injured. “Raja Fang!” Then Raja ran forward and clamped its jaws onto Pachrino. Pachrino roared but stayed on its feet. And then came my turn. “Alright, let’s end this! Pachrino Fury!” Pachrino quickly jumped up and began rotating rapidly. It dove down and struck both Raja and Aeros, defeating them both. The Fighter simply stood there, shocked at his quick defeat. His younger brother started screaming at me, calling me a cheater and a lowlife. All I did was walk away, leaving the two Brat Battlers to stew in their juices. Chapter 7.5: Crossing Paths There is nothing in the world quite so satisfying as standing up to arrogant snots. I was practically walking on clouds, right up to my room. But as I rounded the last corner and opened the door... "GAH!" A girl in her late teen years gawked at me; an expression of sheer terror plastered her face white. She staggered backwards a few steps, then fell to the floor, unconcious. Rubicon heard the noise and came rushing in from his room. He barely paused to survey the scene. "Alistair, what did you do!?!" he shouted, in near hysterics. "I didn't do anything! I just opened the door and she collapsed!" Rubicon kneeled down and held two fingers to the girl's arm. He looked up at me in even greater alarm. "I can't find a pulse! She's dead! SHE'S DEAD!" I squatted on my haunches and gave Rubicon a solid slap to the face. "That's 'cause you've your fingers on the wrong part of the arm, dummkopf! You need to check her wrists, not her forearm!" I pulled his two fingers to the appropriate position. The pulse was not only present, it was strong. "See? She'll be alright." Rubicon exhaled and visibly relaxed. "Whew." "Who is that, anyway?" "Oh, that's our last roommate. Azalea... something that starts with an 'r'." "What." "Raze. I think her surname's Raze." "No, what as in what did you say? Roommate?" "Yeah. Ray left a spot open by accident when he signed us up for joint rooming. Well, she traveled here on her own, so the staff grouped her with us." "Huh. Alright. I sure hope the glare won't be this much of a hassle for her again." "Yeah. Me too." There was a minor incident after she came to, but that's another story. I'm sure Azalea's got a better account of it than I do. Chapter 8: Miraculous Cleaning Work The next morning I went down to the Cleaning Room. It was rather late in the morning, and the Fossil Center was mostly empty. The room’s repairs were finished and I could go in. The only one in the Cleaning Room was the cleaning assistant robot, KL-33N. He introduced himself and prepared the cleaning table. I removed the hammer and drill I had received from the staff and began cleaning my first fossil, a Raja skull. KL-33N put the skull into a machine, and after some glowing lights came on, a Raja medal appeared. I picked it up, and as strong as Raja was, I decided I wouldn’t use it. I cleaned the other 7 rocks, and ended up reviving an Aeros and a Goyle too. Neither of them I would use, since I already had a very powerful team. I was about to leave when I saw something wrapped in cloth sticking out of my bag. I picked it up and unwrapped it. It was my Miraculous Fossil Rock, the bribe I had received from Ray to participate. “Ahh, a Miraculous Fossil Rock! Those are quite rare!—VIP VIP” observed KL-33N. I decided to clean it.Just to make sure it was a soft rock, I used the drill first. Sure enough, the fossil rock was very soft. I turned on the x-ray located above the rock. It showed a picture of a gold fossil head. I was now very eager. I carefully used the drill to dig away the layers of rock, one at a time, until I had completely excavated the rock. “Ahh! A gold fossil! And a perfect cleaning at that! –BEEP!” whirred KL-33N. A perfect cleaning! I thought. That’s amazing! “Please select a Vivosaur to integrate your gold fossil into. – VEEP!” said KL-33N. I quickly opened my Dino Medal case and flipped through all the Vivosaurs, trying to decide.After a minute, I decided to use it on my faithful Pachrino. So I put the gold fossil and Pachrino’s medal into the machine. This time, the lights came on much brighter, so bright I though the machine was going to explode. After the light show, the gold fossil was gone. I picked up Pachrino’s medal… except that it wasn’t Pachrino. The Dino Medal I picked up showed a picture of shorter-legged Vivosaur covered in spikes. Curious, I sent it out. The Vivosaur roared and reared on its hind legs. “Pachrino has evolved into Buldor. Enjoy!-VOOP” said KL-33N. Buldor. Not bad, I thought. I recalled Buldor and went outside to see what else I could do. I didn’t feel like digging, and it wasn’t yet time for my first match. Or so I thought. My Paleopager suddenly went off, and I checked the message: ~Alistair Silber and Johnny D., please report to the Fossil Center before 11:00 AM for your battle~ I looked at the clock on the wall. It read 10: 45. I hurried over to the front desk to register. The woman at the front desk confirmed my participation and I sat down to wait for this Johnny D. At 10:58, I noticed a rather large man in a pink shirt at the front desk. Then he came over to me and started trash talking me, as well as give me a piece of unexpected info. “Hey, Silver, I heard about how you beat both of my brothers good. Well, now its my turn!” I was in the mood for this sort of thing, so I quickly looked up at him. His eyes widened and I said, “So, you’re Brat Battler #3. Lemme guess, you’re using THREE weak Vivosaurs?” I loved taunting my opponents. Especially when they were the ones who sparked conflict with me. “Ex-CUSE me, punk? I’ll mop the floor with that white hair of yours!” “And I’ll clean the walls with your pink shirt.” Johnny D. clenched his teeth. Then the front desk woman called us over so the battle could start. We entered a door to the left of the desk and walked into an arena with full bleachers. Fans roared and cheered. The referee went up to us and went over the rules. Then we shook hands and took up opposite sides on the arena. I heard Ty Ranno, the announcer, say, “And up next, we have the mysterious Alistair battling with Johnny D.!” Mysterious. I liked that. “Enjoy your loss, Silverfish!” And Johnny tossed three Dino Medals into the center of the arena. Chapter 9: You Dare Call That a Battle? From Johnny D.’s three medals rose an Aeros, a Raja, and a large, red, long-necked Vivosaur called Amargo. Immediately, I fixed my sights on Amargo. Since it was a Fire-type, it had a type advantage over two of my Vivosaurs. But it was for these reasons I carried Ankylo, a Water-type. “Let’s do this!” I shouted and tossed out my Vivosaurs. When the crowd saw my Buldor appea and rear on its hind legs, they roared so loud that I couldn’t hear myself think. I guess no one expected to see a Super Evolver this early in the tournament. "Holy cow!" cried Trip Cera, the other announcer, "A Super Evolver already!? This is going to be a GREAT Cup!" When the cheering died down, Ty Ranno announced that I would attack first. “Alright, Ankylo, Toxic Spear” I said calmly Ankyo quickly dug its hind legs into the ground and began launching huge blasts of water at Amargo. The distance and elemental advantage kicked in, but Ankylo’s energy seemed to give the attack an extra kick that defeated Amargo. Johnny D. quickly ran forward and picked up his medal. He ordered Aeros to use Wind Blast, and all three of my Vivosaurs were knocked over. But they all recuperated quickly. Even Ankylo got up with barely a scratch. Angered at his failure to do real damage, Johnny D. struck with Raja. “Raja Fang!” Raja charged forward and sank its teeth into Buldor. Buldor’s spikes seemed to protect it, but Raja wasn’t affected by them. It simply retreated to its regular spot beside Aeros. “You got three turns to live. I end.” Ty Ranno was a bit confused. “Alistair seems to be so sure of his victory that he’s actually counting down turns.” Johnny D. said what his younger brother said when we battled earlier “You’re just scared! Raja Combo!” Raja bit Buldor and then headbutted it, but Buldor just shook it off. Man, this guy is defensive, I thought “Alright, two turns left. I end again.” “Raja Combo again!!” Raja attacked Buldor again, and once again, Buldor simply shook it off, but it was beginning to have difficulty standing up. Then I knew I had to strike, but not quite yet. “One turn left. Buldor, Harden.” A green aura surrounded Buldor. It roared, and then I ended “Raja Combo!” Raja rushed forward and once again, bit and headbutted Buldor. But this time, the attack seemed softer. Buldor was still standing when it ended. I began getting pumped. This was it. “Let’s finish this! Buldor Fury!” Buldor reared on its legs and roared. A huge bouldor popped up out of the ground. Buldor charged forward and slammed its nose spike into the boulder, shattering it and sending chunks of rock flying at Raja and Aeros. The two Vivosaurs roared and Johnny D. screamed as the rocks flew towards them at high speed. When the rocks stopped and the dust settled, Johnny D. was on his knees, panting. Raja and Aeros were gone, their Dino Medals buried under mounds of rocks. “And the total and utterly smashing victory goes to Alistair Silber!” The crowd cheered as I called back my Vivosaurs. I walked over to Johnny D. and offered to help him, but he rejected me. “You’ve done enough! Just go!” I shrugged and left him to dig his two Vivosaurs out of the pile. 1 down, I thought, 4 to go. As I left the stadium, Fighters in the lobby all began giving me looks. I guess they had seen the victory. Some of them started going up to me but they all changed their minds. I payed them no heed. I simply walked up to my Hotel room. As I approached the room, I noticed Damon fumbling with the lock. I had heard Damon had beaten Rubicon. Ray must have been fuming when he found out I was his last hope already. My footsteps must have caught his attention, because then he looked up at me. My eyes, the cursed optical tools they are, flashed as Damon looked into them. I watched him suddenly lose touch with reality, and just start staring into space. I stood there for what seemed like several minutes before someone else opened the door. Quickly, I ducked into my room. When I did, I sat down on the couch and called Ray. Chapter 10: 1001 Ways to Smuggle Yourself Onto an Island As the phone rang, I kept wondering if Ray even knew about Rubicon’s loss. Turns out, he did, when he started threatening me over the line when he answered. “Alistair! You’d better have won your first round!” “Crushed ‘im.” I said. Ray’s tone immediately softened up, “Ahh, good. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where Rubicon is right now, would you?” “No… why?” “Well, I’m coming to the island and I want to, er, chat with him.” This was unexpected news. I knew that Ray’s presence on the island would jeopardize his plans. Not only that, but his revenge scheme would most likely involve me winning no matter what. His existence on Ribular could very well cost me my place in the Cup. But I kept my mouth shut, knowing that I couldn’t change his mind. “How exactly do you plan to get here? You’re banned, need I remind you?” “Well, let’s just say, security on the Caliosteo Islands’ supply boats isn’t the best.” “I see…” “Yeah. I should be in by the end of the second round. Just make sure you win.” Then the line went dead. I didn’t ponder this though. Instead I began trying to think of a plan to minimize the damage that Ray’s presence would inevitably cause. I knew I couldn’t stop him from coming to the island. The most damage he could cause was to get me disqualified. So I tried to think of how I could escape being deported. Then I remembered Rubicon’s O-Raptor and how it had greatly helped in escaping the warehouse. Immediately, I began to wonder if Rubicon would allow it to help me in a time of need. I called Rubicon. “Rubicon, I need a favor.” “Sure, what’s up?” He sounded somewhat tired. “Ray’s coming to the island.” There was a brief silence before Rubicon responded with a simple, “Okay.” “Chances are, his presence will increase the odds of my affiliation with the BB Brigade being found out, seeing as how he doesn’t care about laying low. I was wondering if you’d consider having your O-Raptor bail me out if the Staff tries to arrest me.” Rubicon puzzledly replied, “My O-Raptor? Why him?” “I remember how well it helped us escape the cops at the warehouse a few months ago. I think it would be my best shot.I mean, Jan’s good and all, but do you really think she could fend off guards as quickly as O-Raptor?” I said. “Good point,” said Rubicon, “But O-Raptor is really sensitive. I don’t wanna take any unneccessary risks with him if I can avoid them.” There was another pause. Then I heard Rubicon snap his fingers. “I know just the thing!” he exclaimed, “Don’t worry, Alistair. You’re covered.” I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Thanks.” And then we hung up, leaving me to wonder what exactly Rubicon was planning. His O-Raptor was the swiftest Vivosaur I’d ever seen. What could possibly match up to it? Chapter 11: Round Two of a Dangerous Game I woke up to the sound of my Paleopager beeping. Groggily, I picked it up and read the message: ~Alistair and Jonathan, please report to the Fossil Stadium for your next match.~ My eyes widened. I had overslept. My next round was already starting. I jumped out of bed, grabbed my jeans, Dino Medals, and overcoat, and rushed downstairs. When I got to the front desk, the woman there quickly registered that I was present and headed through the door into the arena. The crowd was cheering, despite my last-minute arrival. I noticed my opponent, a shaggy haired boy roughly my age. I decided I would try to avert my gaze, so as to not have an unfair mental advantage. Or a fainted opponent, for that matter. “And with that, we are about to begin the next match! Alistair Silber against Jonathan Hayate!” “Good luck, man.” Said Jonathan as we shook hands. “You too.” I said, still avoiding eye contact. We took up opposite sides on the field and threw our Dino Medals into the center. My Vivosaurs came out ready to brawl. Jonathan’s Vivosaurs were quite interesting. The front Vivosaur was a theropod with a doglike head, Krypto. Then a small flying Vivosaur with a tall crest on its head, Thalasso. And then a bovine Vivosaur with huge horns called Peloro. “Jonathan will take the first attack.” Said Ty Ranno, “Begin!” “Alright, Krypto Fang!” called Jonathan. Krypto rushed forward and clamped its jaws onto Buldor’s spiked hide. Buldor, being the tank it was, shook it off. Jonathan ended. I figured he was saving his FP for something big. “Ankylo Combo!” I ordered. Ankylo quickly ran forward, toward Krypto, and rammed into it with its side. Then it swung its tail in a 180 degree spin, knocking Krypto back more. “Body Axe.” I said. Pelto charged and shifted to its right, goring its large body spike into Krypto’s belly. The Vivosaur roared but stayed on its feet, but just barely standing. Jonathan suddenly got excited. “Time to try the new move! Krypto Virus!” Krypto reared back, then threw its head forward as it opened its maw and released a storm of purple gas from its mouth.The gas surrounded Buldor, covering it in a thick fog. Buldor roared loudly. I had to cover my face to avoid getting sprayed, but when the smoke cleared, I could’ve sworn I saw a skull and crossbones fade with the fog. “Wow! What an amazing display of a unique skill!” announced Ty Ranno. “Now Buldor has been infected, and in 4 turns, it’ll be history!” “Not even a doctor could save this patient!” agreed Trip Cera. Infected, I thought. This don’t look too good. Better finish this quickly. “Body Hammer!” I yelled. Ankylo performed the same maneuver Pelto had done earlier, slamming its armored body into Krypto. The jackal-headed Vivosaur toppled like a tree, and turned into a medal. “Pelto, front and center, then Earth Spear!” All three Vivosaurs shifted one to the right. Pelto went to my front, and then planed its feet suddenly got aggressive in his battling. “Peloro! Peloro Combo!” Peloro ran forward and struck Pelto with its horns, then swung sideways to slash it. Pelto struggled to stand. I could tell it was almost gone. Jonathan ended again, looking anxiously at his Thalasso. Only two turns left, I thought. I looked at Buldor, which didn’t look that sick, but I knew that could change. “Earth Spear!” Pelto fired more stones at Thalasso, knocking the blue pterosaur out of the sky. Then Jonathan started laughing with glee. I raised an eyebrow in confusion, then noticed Peloro. It looked somewhat more invigorated. “Look at that! It appears Peloro has activated its ability, Solo Power! I don’t think the name needs any explanation.” Said Trip Cera. “Oh no…” I said under my breath. I looked at Pelto, knowing that it was doomed. And since Thalasso had just been beaten, Jonathan wouldn’t hold back against Ankylo or Buldor either. “RED SPARK!!” yelled Jonathan. A red light appeared between Peloro’s horns. It moved to the center and fired directly at Pelto.The red light engulfed Pelto and turned it into a medal. Ankylo suddenly swung its tail in anticipation. I decided to use it to attack. “Toxic Spear!” I called. Ankylo firmly planted its feet into the ground and fired huge water jets at Peloro. Peloro skidded backwards but stayed on its feet. “Buldor Batter!” Buldor quickly curled into a ball and rolled forward. It uncurled and smashed its nose spike into Peloro, impaling it and turning it back into a medal. “And Alistair moves on to round three!” annouced Ty Ranno. Jonathan stood there, a disappointed look on his face. But then he brightened up and approached me. “That was an awesome battle! Glad it happened!” he said cheerily. “It sure was.” I said, shaking his hand. My eyes met his, and his grip on my hand tightened a bit, but he looked fine otherwise. We left the arena and was about to head to my room when I heard my Paleopager ring. I looked at it and saw a text from Ray. ~Meet me at Treasure Lake now. It’s a matter of urgency.~ I rolled my eyes at the word “urgency”. I doubted it could be that urgent. But I went anyway. Treasure Lake was all but deserted. Everyone was watching the battles. I walked over to the lake’s edge, and that’s when I noticed a figure sitting in the large, skull-like cave in the middle. I went inside and, sure enough, Ray was there talking to Rubicon. Neither of them noticed me, so I cleared my throat to get their attention. Ray spun around and greeted me rather warmly. “Ahh, Alistair. Have a good fight?” He was rather friendly. I knew something was up. “Yes. I won fairly easily, seeing as how I had a slight type advantage. Why so friendly?” “Oh I’m just glad to see you’re advancing to round three. But that victory was too close for me to take easily. So I’m giving you this!”